It was developing into one of the epic battles in the recent history of Mellon Arena.

The kind of confrontation in which there was no way to predict a winner until the very end.

Which, to be honest, those who were watching feared might never arrive.

The Penguins wrapped up their practice at Mellon Arena yesterday with a breakaway competition. That happens once or twice a week, but this one was different.

Which is to say, interminable.

One by one, players managed to get pucks past goalies Marc-Andre Fleury and Mathieu Garon until only two shooters, defensemen Brooks Orpik and Hal Gill, were left.

At which point it settled into a confrontation that dragged on nearly as long as the siege of Stalingrad.

"It was a good one," Gill said, smiling. "We got a lot of reps in."

Eventually, on what was conservatively estimated to be the 4,357th round, Orpik beat Garon and Fleury denied Gill to bring the event to a merciful conclusion. But not until everyone present had been reminded why Orpik and Gill have combined for 37 goals in 1,227 regular-season man-games.

"If we're counting on those guys to score on breakaways," said assistant coach Mike Yeo, who oversees the defense, "we might not be in great shape."

Great shape? If that were the case, the Penguins wouldn't even be in the league.

Of course, Orpik and Gill aren't paid to score goals, on breakaways or any other way. Their job descriptions pretty much start -- and finish -- with playing physical, defensively sound hockey.

Neither, predictably, has a goal going into Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final against Carolina at 7:38 tonight at Mellon Arena, but their co-workers have made it easy to overlook that.

Just 14 games into the postseason, Penguins defensemen have generated 11 goals. That's three shy of the franchise record set in 1991, when the Penguins won their first Stanley Cup, and translates to 22.9 percent of the 48 goals the team has manufactured

"That's something we, as players, don't think about," right winger Bill Guerin said. "But it sure does help."

Mark Eaton, who had four in 68 regular-season games, already has matched that total, and is followed by Kris Letang (3), Sergei Gonchar (2) and Rob Scuderi and Philippe Boucher (1 each).

"It's nice to see Mark chipping in," Scuderi said. "Every time he has an opportunity, he seems to bury it."

While Gill noted that producing goals is something defensemen "look at as gravy," it's not a coincidence that the Penguins are getting more offense from those guys since Dan Bylsma took over as coach.

His preference for an aggressive offensive style includes having the defenseman be more than just interested observers when play moves into the attacking zone.

"We have guys on the back end who are capable of skating, getting up ice, supporting the attack and making the right reads," Yeo said.

"We have great forwards with the vision and the ability to make plays to guys coming up a little bit later on the rush.

"It's a part of our game and a part of the NHL today. You have to get your [defensemen] involved, because teams do such a great job of tracking back [into their defensive end]. You have to try to utilize everybody to create offense."

That, Eaton said, is because of the defensive strategies embraced by teams today.

"They try to protect 'home plate' (a five-sided area) in the defensive zone and it leaves the points open," he said. "Part of the offensive-zone scheme is to use the points and for us to try to get pucks through. Sometimes, they find holes and find the net."

That was the case with Boucher's winner in the Penguins' 3-2 victory in the opener of this series Monday. It didn't look particularly menacing when he threw it toward Carolina goalie Cam Ward, but Ward wasn't able to prevent the puck from getting across the goal line.

Boucher's goal came on one of the 102 shots with which Penguins defensemen have been credited during these playoffs, a number that might have been dwarfed by the total Orpik and Gill took during the breakaway competition yesterday.

And while only one made it past a goaltender, those guys didn't get much abuse from their teammates. Especially their fellow defensemen, including the ones who've made a habit of scoring lately.

"We don't like to use up our goals in practice," Eaton said. "We like to save them for the games."

Matchup: Carolina Hurricanes at Penguins, 7:38 p.m. today, Mellon Arena.

Internet: Live game blog at Empty Netters

TV, radio: Versus; WXDX-FM (105.9).

Series: Penguins, 1-0.

Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury for Penguins. Cam Ward for Hurricanes.

Penguins: Have taken 2-0 lead in four of past six series. ... C Evgeni Malkin owns four-game points streak. ... Have outshot opponent in 12 of 14 playoff games.

Hurricanes: Lost Game 1 in four of past five series, and rallied to win series each time. ... First-line LW Ray Whitney does not have goal in past eight games. ... Power play is 2 for 25 on road this spring.

Hidden stat: Carolina has been outscored, 15-9, in first period during playoffs.